While “Bridesmaids” launched the career of Melissa McCarthy into an onslaught of projects with varying results, the film’s director, Paul Feig, certainly took his time in deciding on a follow-up. However, in the end it wasn’t a wild shift, as he collaborated again with McCarthy for the upcoming buddy comedy with Sandra Bullock, “The Heat,” and along the way has decided on his team for the next project as well.
Feig has been tapped to produce and direct another action comedy after “The Heat” (which opens June 28th), and he’s bringing back writer Katie Dippold and producer Peter Chernin to help him in the effort. Dippold landed a $1 million deal with Chernin Productions for her untitled pitch — the logline for which is being kept secret — but if the team’s second project approaches anything like what trailers for “The Heat” have promised, we’d say a decent facsimile isn’t too far out of reach.
Luckily, one the actors in Feig’s latest film is gearing up for a directorial turn of his own, and a more low-key affair at that. Demian Bichir, best known for his Oscar-nominated role in “A Better Life,” will helm “Refugio,” a love story about a young man who pursues his long-lost love after leaving his circus family. Bichir supplied the script as well, and will team with BN Films and brother Bruno’s production shingle Escarabajo Productions to make it happen. An intriguing actor matched with a mysterious premise — count us on board to see what Bichir makes of it. [The Hollywood Reporter]